การเปรียบเทียบความยาวและความหนาของเส้นขนบริเวณขา หลังการใส่เฝือกเป็นเวลาอย่างน้อย 4 สัปดาห์กับเส้นขนบริเวณขาด้านที่ไม่ได้ใส่เฝือก / ปิยนุช ไชยฤกษ์ = Comparison of hair length and thickness on the legs after cast application of at least 4 weeks’ duration, with control side / Piyanuch Chairerg
Background: Hair is one of the most complicate structures in human. A myriad of stimulating factors have been noted to affect hair growth. Localized hypertrichosis following cast application has been recorded, but there is no study evaluating these changes elaborately. Objective: To evaluate changes of hair length and thickness on the legs in fracture patients after cast application. Material and method: Patients with leg injuries and history of cast application of at least 4 weeks’ duration were included in the study. Immediately after cast removal, hair sampling was taken from both legs; cast and control sides. Hair length and thickness of each side were measured by Olympus microscope software and statistical analysis performed for their differences using pair t test. Result: Fourteen patients, seven of whom were male, were included in this study. On the cast side, both hair length and thickness were significantly longer and thicker than the control side (P<0.001). Degrees of hair change did not correlate with the distance from injury site. Conclusion: The highly significant hair growth during cast application and their diffuse pattern may suggest that a whole host of biological changes that strongly affect hair growth must have taken place underneath the cast.